The World Health Organization (WHO) says it could take up to 9 months for a vaccine against this particular Ebola species to be ready.
Two possible “candidate vaccines” against the Bundibugyo species are being developed, but neither has yet entered clinical trials, WHO advisor Dr. Vasee Moorthy said on Wednesday.
WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there have been 600 suspected cases of Ebola and 139 suspected deaths, but numbers are expected to rise given the time taken to detect the virus.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, he said 51 cases have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo – where the first case was reported – and two in neighbouring Uganda.
On Sunday, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern, but said it was not at pandemic level.
Tedros said that after meeting on Tuesday, the health organization’s emergency committee agreed the situation was “not a pandemic emergency”.
“WHO assesses the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level,” he explained.
The 51 cases confirmed in DR Congo are in its eastern Ituri province – the epicentre of the outbreak – as well as North Kivu province. Of the two confirmed in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, both had travelled from DR Congo, one of whom has died.
“We know the scale of the epidemic in DRC is much larger,” the WHO chief said, adding that healthcare workers were among those who had died, which was a particular concern.
Local health workers say some facilities are being overwhelmed. Although personal protective equipment has started to arrive, they say they are still working without adequate protection.
Trish Newport, a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) emergency program manager, said health facilities are telling them: ” We are full of suspected cases.” We don’t have any space.
“This gives you a vision of how crazy it is right now,” she told AFP news agency.
The UK government has announced it will provide up to £20m to help to contain the outbreak. The money will pay for frontline health workers, improved infection control, and disease surveillance.
A WHO official said investigations were underway to determine how long the virus had been spreading, but that their priority was to curb transmission.
The first known case was a nurse who developed symptoms and died on 24 April, in Ituri’s provincial capital Bunia.
The body was repatriated to Mongwalu, one of two gold-mining towns where the majority of cases have been reported.
Araali Bagamba, a lecturer who lives in Bunia, said people understand how dangerous the situation is.
“For the last three days I haven’t shaken anyone’s hand and I observe that within the general population,” she told the BBC World Service Newsday programme. “It’s our habit to shake hands all the time… [but] the habit has changed.”
Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids and through broken skin, causing severe bleeding and organ failure.
Bagamba said people “believe it will get worse before it gets better” because people did not initially realize it was Ebola.
Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in what is now DR Congo, and is thought to have spread from bats.
There are four species of Ebola known to cause disease in humans, including Zaire, which DR Congo has dealt with on numerous occasions and is most familiar with.
The country is facing its 17th outbreak of Ebola, but the Bundibugyo species – which has not been seen for more than a decade – brings its own difficulties.
Bundibugyo has only caused two previous outbreaks – in Uganda in 2007 and DR Congo in 2012 – when it killed about a third of those infected.
Although less deadly than other Ebola species, the rarity of Bundibugyo means there are fewer tools to stop it.
There is no approved vaccine for Bundibugyo, but experimental ones are in development. It is possible that a vaccine for Zaire may offer some protection.
Speaking alongside Tedros on Wednesday, WHO advisor Moorthy said one possible vaccine currently under development “would be the equivalent of” the only vaccine currently available to prevent the spread of Ebola. This is only effective against Zaire.
“This needs to be prioritized as the most promising Bundibugyo candidate vaccine,” he explained.
